Wolf's Rain: A Second Chance at Paradise
by Iama Sipe
Summary: Last time around, Kiba, Hige, Tsume, and Toboe failed in their quest to find Paradise. Now they've been reborn and things are happening all over agian. But this time, a young wolf named Mei, whose pack told stories of the Paradise Seekers and their failed attempt to find Paradise, is determined to find the four and stop them from making the same mistakes once agian. I don't own WR!
1. Prologue: Mei's Quest

**Hey Everyone! I decided after watching the "Wolf's Rain" series that I wanted to make a fanfiction like this. The way it'll go is that I'll do a chapter for every episode of the series. It WILL NOT be just a writen down version of the series though. It WILL change...A LOT! :D This is my version of what happens the second time around...so enjoy!**

* * *

Mei would never forget what her ever relenting quest was for. She would never forget what she'd been looking for all these years. She never even knew if they were out there, yet she kept on running to who knows where. Leads were few and far between, and mostly she was going on instinct. But they had to be out there. What had all these years been for if she ended up not finding them?

One thing was for certain; the world was crumbling. The moon was getting closer, and had started to get reddish tint to it in the past days. Soon things would start to freeze over, just as they had last time around. Nobody would be left alive, and Mei will have lost her chance at finding what she'd been looking for for what seemed like her entire life. She would be reborn just as the paradise seekers would, but she wouldn't know to go and find them next time, so she knew she had to hurry. The words echoed in her head. Things were playing out just as the "Book of the Moon" had foretold.

"I tell you now the words of Red Moon. From the Great Spirit was born the Wolf, and Man became his messenger. The Beast lives his life in silence abiding where the blessing of the blood of the Gods bestowed upon him. The White Flower, after winning the favor of the lord of the night will share her sent. Preordained and eternal in countenance, her form is of a lily white supple Maiden. She distills and condenses all of time until it becomes a precious frozen mass. ONLY THEN WILL APPEAR THE WRETCHED BEAST."

The book spoke no lies. The words were said in riddles but Mei knew what it all meant, and she knew she had to stop it before it even began. Her pack used to tell the stories of these wolves. They tried to find Paradise before, but failed. When the world was reborn they were reborn with it to try again. They would have no memory, and somebody had to set them on the path to Paradise. She had to find the white wolf and his companions. She had to find Kiba, Hige, Tsume, and Toboe. The ones that would open a new world; the ones that would open paradise. This was her mission. This was her duty. This was her quest.

* * *

**Okay Okay I admit the prologue was pretty short, but the it's just egtting you into the feel of the story :) The others will be way longer I pinky promise! So give lots and lots of reviews if you want faster chapters ;) KEEP READING!**


	2. Chapter One: A City and a Scent

**Well here it be! :D Chapter one ^_^ I hope it's enjoyable and that you like how I wrote it :3**

* * *

She saw it in the distance. It was a city where humans lived. She figured she could pass as a dog there, so she just slipped in unnoticed. The pavement was an improvement from the hot dry desert sand outside this cities dome. All the cities these days were built like this she noticed. In gigantic bubbles to keep what was happening on the outside world a secret to the citizens that lived in them. It was a joke to her but she abided by the laws of these humans. Anything to reach what seemed to be far out of her grasp and slipping away farther.

But there was something about this city that drew her to it. Something made her almost WANT to be here. This was the city where she knew she could find the four wolves if she hurried. It was where they'd started their journey last time, and it was where they'd meet at last and begin again this time. She tried to keep this in mind as she padded through the dusty streets and garbage filled lots of the human's domain, but she was awfully tired, hungry, and thirsty. Plus there was no moonlight due to the dome, which made her even more uncomfortable that she should have been.

She looked over and saw a muddy puddle that had formed do to a leak in a pip running just outside a building. Not her ideal place to drink but who could be picky under the circumstance. She lapped it up happily, and as she did she spied something in the mud where water had already dried up. A paw print. She sniffed at it curiously. This was…wolf! And if she was right the wolf had been here not long ago.

She was almost too excited to keep herself contained, but she knew she had to. The matter at hand was finding this mystery wolf and hoping…praying that he may be one of the four she was so desperately searching for.

She ran, nose to the ground, in the direction the scent went in. It seemed like hours of sniffing before it started to get dark. The trail had led all around the city but there was no sign of the wolf she'd been seeking anywhere.

Mei sighed as she lay down in the dark alleyway running beneath a large bridge. How was she ever going to find these wolves in time to help them?

Just then she her ears picked up a commotion…and it was coming her way! She dove behind a pile of empty boxes to her left and watched out a small crack between them. A group of humans had just come running in her direction and had stopped to catch their breath where she'd just been standing not five seconds ago. They were arguing it seemed about launching some type of raid on a shipment coming through. The one that seemed to be the leader was all for it, but his gang wasn't so keen on the idea.

There was something about the leader though; something different. Then she caught sight of it. His shadow was that of a wolf! Mei could have jumped out from behind the boxes at that moment and greeted him, but she wanted to play her cards right, so she waited for him to take off, then followed silently behind. Until they got out into the street that is.

Once they were there she lost him in an uproar caused by some man trying to steal from a vendor on the street. He was nowhere to be found. Her heart dropped. She'd finally found another wolf for the first time in years, and now she'd let him slip away.

She was so caught up in kicking herself for the stupid mistake she'd made that she didn't even notice a gun aimed at her by one of the officers who'd been taking in the thief. She turned, baring her teeth and letting out a deep snarl as he stood, sweat forming on his brow. With a leap and a bark she soared straight over his head, and took off into one of the nearby alleyways.

"Humans." She said quietly to herself as she ran to the safety of a secluded back lot that seemed to belong to a rundown store of some kind. She whimpered and lay down under a tarp as not to be seen. The day had been a total bust. She hadn't been able to track down the owner of the paw print and she hadn't been able to keep up with the silver haired wolf in human's clothing. Oh well. At least she knew they were still here, and she still had a chance to catch them before it was too late.

* * *

The next morning, Mei crawled out from underneath her hiding place and stretched, then shook her head. The small purple jewel on the large black collar around her neck tingled slightly as she shook. The collar had been put on her a long time ago and she'd never been able to remove it. But that suited her just fine. It was a beautiful gem and it also helped her blend in as a dog.

She decided then that it wasn't doing any good to just sit idly there in the back lot she'd slept in, so she got up and walked slowly out into the open, being careful not to draw too much attention to herself.

All of a sudden her stomach clenched and let out a deep rumble. She whimpered, remembering how hungry the trip across the desert had made her. She'd been so caught up in trying to track down that other wolf that she had completely forgotten until just then. So she trotted toward an aroma that may or may not have been food.

Rounding a corner Mei saw the source of the smell…a trashcan. It looked like it'd been mostly picked clean of anything edible, but as hungry as she was she wasn't in the mood to argue with even herself.

"This is so humiliating." She said as she nosed through the stinky garbage. She found a few crumbs here and there, but before she could really get enough to fill her stomach substantially, a crow cawed to her right. She growled at it, but quickly became overwhelmed when the little devil was joined by some friends and they all started hollering at her to leave.

However she couldn't just back away, so she snapped her jaws and snarled, holding her head up to increase her size slightly. But the crows didn't even flinch. In fact they did the exact opposite. They all came flying at her, beaks nipping and pecking at all angles as Mei scurried out of the alley.

"Stupid birds!" She yelled back at them.

Panting, Mei shook off the encounter she'd just had and sat down next to a fountain, which appeared to have very little water left in it but at one time must have been very beautiful.

"This must be the middle of the city." She whispered to herself.

"Oh it is." A voice said from behind her.

She turned around to the voice to spy an orange striped cat sitting near her head, lapping water up.

"Are there usually officers in this part of town?" Mei asked him. She was no stranger to striking up conversations with other animals in the cities she wandered through.

"Usually but I think they're all wrapping up an issue in the south part of the city now. Apparently a gang of ruffian humans raided a shipment passing through last night and in the midst of it all the huge dog they had in the lab from yesterday's mix up escaped." The cat stretched and lay down, licking his paw which was wet from a little slip he's had while drinking.

"How do you know?" Mei was confused. Either this cat got around really fast or he was psychic.

"The birds are such gossips here in the city. They tell me everything whether they mean to or not. Can't keep their little beaks shut." The cat chuckled.

"Oh." Mei said and gave a little laugh herself, "I think all birds are gossips to be honest. Hey what was that you said about a dog escaping from the lab here?"

"Yesterday an old man shot a rather large white dog in the middle of town. He got taken in for it and the dog was hauled off to the lab to be disposed of properly. But then as I told you it just disappeared during all the excitement last night." He explained. The cat didn't understand why this strange animal didn't just come right out and ask what she wanted to ask. It was obvious she wasn't from Free City and it was also apparent she was no dog. He'd riddled it out fairly quickly. The collar she wore did nothing to cover up her light silver fur and white underbelly.

"You think it's still around here somewhere?" Mei asked.

"I would think so. It couldn't have gotten far between last night and now. What with all the fuss and everything I imagine it would be rather difficult to get anywhere." He thought he'd play around a little more and answer her questions like he didn't know what was going on.

"I hope I can find him." It wasn't directed to the cat, but more just Mei thinking out loud.

Regardless he decided to ask, "Oh? And why is that?"

Me looked over at the feline sitting on the fountain and said simply, "I've been looking for him for a very long time."

"You're a wolf aren't you?" He asked finally.

"How…how'd you know?" Mei asked, shocked that he'd managed to see past her act.

"It's not hard for me to tell." He purred.

"If you know how to tell a wolf from a dog, then do you know of any other wolves around this city?" She asked.

"I only know of one other. He's a rather scrawny pup that started running around not too long ago." The cat was secretly pleased with being able to show off his knowledge a little, but he was also quite interested in why this wolf was here.

Mei smiled at the cat and said, "Thanks for all your help, but I have to get going. I have a mind to find this 'scrawny pup' you speak of. I think he may be another wolf I'm looking for." She stood up and started to trot away before turning around and asking, "By the way my name's Mei. I never caught your name either."

"Atticus." He said simply.

Mei nodded at the feline that had been a signpost to where she was supposed to be going, then ran off to search the city once more for the pup she suspected was the one called Toboe.

* * *

**Was that good or maybe not so good? I wanna hear what ya'll thought! :D Review please and stay tuned!**


	3. Chapter Two: Toboe and the Wolf Hunter

**Well here it is! Chapter Two ^w^ It's a god one so I hope you read and enjoy!**

* * *

Mei had searched most of the morning Toboe, but couldn't find him still. She sniffed anywhere that looked fit for him to have been, but still found nothing. She still wasn't sure this pup Atticus spoke of was even the one she'd been looking for, but it was worth a shot if it meant finally coming up with something after all this time. She supposed it would be easy to talk to him once she managed to track him down, because he was supposed to be about her age or somewhere around there.

She rounded the corner, sniffing the pavement still as she did, and to her surprise she had stumbled upon two humans. One was a girl in a pink jacket with long brown hair, and the other was a boy dressed in a red checkered shirt with tan pants who had semi long red hair. Mei retreated immediately to the shadows. Humans in this city hadn't proven kind to animals, so she felt it easier to stay away from them altogether.

However she did sneak around nearer to them to have a listen to what they were saying. Their voices were faint, but she could still make out a little bit of what they were saying.

"So what's your name?" The girl asked with a high pitched and mousey kind of voice.

"I already told you, it's Toboe." The boy said with a smile on his face.

Mei's heart felt like it stopped. She'd known there was something about him that was different, and now she knew what it was. He wasn't a boy at all he was the wolf she'd been looking for all morning and most of her life.

As she listened back in on the conversation, she heard the girl say, "You're a strange one alright. Well I'd better get going. See you around!" Then she ran off, waving as she went.

After the girl was out of sight, Toboe turned and proceeded into a nearby alley. Mei followed quietly. How would she go about this? It wasn't like she could just walk right up as a wolf and start talking to him. So she decided it would be better to disguise herself as a human like she'd seen Toboe and that other wolf do.

Her disguise was quite fitting even in her own eyes. Her hair was light silver just as her fur had been and her eyes were dark green just as they normally were. She was pretty skinny and fairly pale, but that suited her just fine. As for her clothes, she wore a black tank top with a dark gray long sleeved over shirt, and a black layered skirt that came to just above the knee. She also had on knee high black boots with clips on the side, and no heels of course.

With her disguise all ready to go, she stepped out from her hiding place and confronted Toboe head on. He stared intently at her, surprise showing heavily on his face.

"You…you're a wolf. You're just like me." Toboe stuttered. This wasn't a wolf he'd heard any of the birds talking about, and as far as he knew there were few wolves here to begin with.

"My name's Mei. I…" Mei was about to explain everything right then and there, but another tall dark figure came walking up on them from around the corner and stopped. It was the wolf from before! The one she'd lost in the crowd while trying to follow him!

"Another one?!" Yelped Toboe.

"You two are in my way." The older wolf said in a deep voice.

"Hey wait a minute!" Toboe said to him. "I've heard of you mister. You're Tsume aren't you? The birds say you run with a pack of humans."

Mei looked up at the wolf that was apparently called Tsume. This was one of the four as well! She'd gotten lucky in finding them both at the same time.

"Yeah and what's it to you kid?" Tsume growled at Toboe. He was sick and tired of the other animals around here looking down on him for teaming up with humans. It was his way of life and they could just get over it or stay the hell away! It was even worse when this pup opened his mouth about something he knew nothing about. After all the kid reeked of humans.

"I wasn't trying to insult you. I like humans myself. In fact I was raised by one. I think it's kind of cool that you have a whole pack of them." Toboe's tail wagged happily as he talked to Tsume. He was excited to meet any other wolf, let alone two within five minutes of each other.

Then, all of a sudden in the midst of their conversation as Tsume was about to say something back to the pup standing before him, a gun clicked and the wolves heard a low growl to their left at the end of the alley. There was a man standing with a big black dog and his gun aimed right at the three wolves in human form. He appeared to be drunk and smelled of leather and alcohol.

Tsume took no time jumping up and bouncing from wall to wall until reaching the roof. There he ran, making his escape and leaving the two pups in the alley to faced this crazed looking man on their own.

"A boy and a girl?" The old man asked with slurred speech, "No. Wolves is more like it!" He was advancing wobbly and slowly towards Mei and Toboe.

"Toboe we have to jump up where Tsume went!" Mei yelled, pushing Toboe's side as he stood, frozen with a look of pure terror on his face. He wasn't budging and Mei knew she had to do something quick. She couldn't just leave him to die at the hands of this hunter, so she stepped protectively in front of him, dropping her disguise and snarling viciously.

"Ha! You see that Blue?!" The man cackled at his dog, "I knew she was no teenage girl!"

The dog barked loudly in response and charged as the man got ready to pull the trigger. Mei braced herself but before anything happened, she heard the dog yelp and the gun went off, but it didn't hit her. She opened her eyes, and Tsume was standing in front of her and Toboe.

"Jump!" He yelled angrily.

Toboe seemed to snap out of it right at that moment as he yelled, "I was getting ready to!" and jumped with Mei not far behind.

* * *

After their incident with the hunter, Mei and Toboe followed Tsume along the rooftops.

"Thanks for helping us back there." Mei said to him.

"Don't mention it." He said back. He was wondering why these pups didn't get lost. He'd saved them but that didn't mean he needed them to be his tag-alongs.

"Where do you live at?" Toboe asked suddenly.

"None of your business." Tsume snapped.

Toboe stopped, looking a little hurt. "You mean we can't come with you?" He asked.

"No you can't come with me. I don't need the extra trouble." The older wolf said and then started trotting faster.

Toboe still looked hurt, but as he was told, he turned and started the other way. Mei looked back and forth between the two wolves, trying to decide who to follow. In the end she decided Toboe was the better candidate, judging by how her pursuit of Tsume ended last time.

"Toboe wait up!" Mei shouted.

"Oh hey Mei. Hey…thanks for shielding me. You know back in the alley. You hardly even knew me yet you were willing to risk your life for my sake. Why?" Toboe tilted his head.

"Well it's a long story."

"I'm up for a long story. Have at it." Toboe smiled and looked at her, sitting down in the grass without bothering to disguise himself.

Mei did the same, taking down her disguise as well. "See…when I was a puppy my Mother used to tell stories of four wolves called the Paradise Seekers. You see the world has had many lives, and in every one these wolves attempt to find the place called Paradise, but fail. Then they're reborn to try again and again until they finally succeed. The catch is they forget their mission in every life, and continue to make the same mistakes. I think you and Tsume are two of those four wolves." Toboe looked shocked as she said it, but Mei continued anyway. "I have been searching for you for as long as I can remember. I know of your journey and I know how to help you four not make the same mistakes as you did before. I want you to finally find Paradise." Mei finished there and studied Toboe's reaction.

"You must think I'm really gullible." Toboe told her and tilted his head.

"But it's not a joke it's really true Toboe!" Mei's heart was sinking.

"Yeah sure it is. See you around Mei." Toboe scoffed and scurried off into the distance, eager to get away from this crazy wolf. But he had to admit…when she told her story something did stir somewhere inside him. He'd heard of paradise of course but…could he really be destined to search for it?

Mei sighed and let Toboe run off, then slipped into the shadows and followed far behind him. She wasn't letting her chance slip away now. Not when she was so very close to achieving victory. He'd believe, she just had to give him a reason to.

After a few minutes Mei saw Toboe take off into a field after a large bird that was soaring quickly and low to the ground. She ran some distance behind him as he disappeared over a hill.

After she made it to the top, Mei was horrified to find that Toboe had taken down the bird and was now carrying it in human form to the same girl he'd been talking to earlier when she first encountered him. She looked horrified, and when he realized what he'd done, Toboe dropped to his knees and let his disguise down.

His howling filled the air and Mei almost wanted to howl with him, or at the very least go and comfort him. But it wasn't the time. The young girl before him looked terrified to see what he was and what he'd done to her bird.

Just then, a flash of gray bolted in, snatched Toboe, and bolted away. It was Tsume! Mei ran carefully after them and away from the girl. She looked back only once, and when she did the girl was still standing there in shock.

* * *

They ended up at a little shack, which Mei assumed was where Tsume lived. He took Toboe inside and Mei sat quietly by the window, as not to make her presence known. She was lost in thought and wanted to know how she'd ever make them believe her story, but then she heard something that made her heart break.

"Granny found me by the entrance of the dome. My eyes weren't even open. She said I was so little." Toboe said. Mei peered in and saw him hold up his arm on which he was wearing four silver bracelets. "She gave these to me and we lived together…but she still…"

"She still kicked you out?" Tsume asked.

"She still died." Toboe said, burying hes head in his arms. "I let her die."

Mei then lay back down. She knew how Toboe felt; for she'd lost somebody very dear to her too…she'd lost many dear to her.

As she closed her eyes to sleep, she wondered if she'd see them all in paradise one day.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed that :) Was it good? I wanna know what you think so review review review! Also stay tuned for Chapter Three: Leaving the Dome**


End file.
